Gregoire has said that her mom was the hardest worker she knew, but if her mother were still alive, I think she would take her hat off to her daughter.

The love she has and has always had for the state of Washington is truly remarkable. She has always been willing to go the extra mile to get things done. She is extremely honest, ethical and has high values. I feel lucky to have her as a friend. She is truly a caring person with her family and with the issues she holds most dear to her heart, such as education, children and the environment.

I feel Washington has been so fortunate to have her as our governor.

I hope our state is smart enough to elect her for four more years.

— Sheila Riffe, Olympia

Who are you?

Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is so full of contradictions. He wants to cut the minimum wage $1.50, cut $500 million from education and supports deregulating our economy and health-care system.

Rossi is now trying to quash a subpoena in a lawsuit filed by Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna regarding campaign-finance violations with the Building Industry Association of Washington [“AG’s office clarifies comments regarding BIAW-Rossi lawsuit,” news, Oct. 11].

He is charged with “illegally coordinated fundraising,” and wants to testify after the election.

Rossi now says he is a supporter of stem-cell research. In his first debate with Gov. Christine Gregoire four years ago, local Seattle and Everett newspapers displayed these quotes: When asked who would lead stem-cell research Rossi said, “California would lead” and that he “didn’t want to compete with California, with Washington state dollars.” Also, “It’s not relevant whether I support it or not, it’s already legal,” topped by “I don’t know enough about the issue to say whether it is ethical.”

On Rossi’s current transportation plan to solve Highway 520’s bridge problems, he has proposed eight lanes for his “bridge to nowhere.”

He says he can do it for $1 billion less than the six-lane proposal by Gov. Gregoire. That’s a head-scratcher.

Of course, he doesn’t say how those extra lanes will access Interstate 5 and surrounding communities, as well as how, and at what cost, the Eastside and Seattle will be affected.

The Joker in the deck is that at a recent local Chamber of Commerce meeting, The Mukilteo Beacon reported Rossi forces are still sobbing that in the last election there were “several hundred ballots that weren’t counted,” and forgot to mention that those approximately 600 ballots that weren’t counted came from King County, where Gov. Gregoire had a 60-40 percent advantage.

Isn’t it strange that Republican Rossi, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, with a Republican majority in the Senate, wasn’t able to work in a nonpartisan way to get a fast-tract transportation system in place and, as writer of the 2003 budget, left Gov. Gregoire with a $2.2 billion deficit?

–Max W. Don, Mukilteo

Substance over style

Up until now, Washington’s strong economy and Gov. Christine Gregoire’s good management have kept our state from the huge budget shortfalls facing many other states. But as the current economic crisis spreads from Wall Street to the rest of the world, we are no longer immune.

Who should we trust to make the tough choices our state will have to make — gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi or Gov. Christine Gregoire?

The only subject Rossi has been specific about is a transportation plan no one is taking seriously. He claims that he’s not running for office on issues like abortion, but his socially conservative values will inevitably influence his decisions about which parts of the budget to fund and which to cut.

Gregoire has created a good business climate and expanded trade for our state, but has also improved children’s health care, education and environmental policy (including a real plan for how to clean up Puget Sound).

When budgets need to be trimmed, I trust her more-balanced approach to Washington’s needs.

Gregoire is a proven leader with solid accomplishments; Rossi has no real executive experience.

As times get tougher, we will need substance over style. I’ll be voting for Gregoire.

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